


We Gather Together

by verucasalt123



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Family Dynamics, Friendship, Holidays, M/M, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-01 15:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verucasalt123/pseuds/verucasalt123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As it turns out, what they’re all most thankful for is each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Gather Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mollyamory (Molly)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molly/gifts).



By the time they all graduated from high school and started heading off to college (or staying home for college, in the cases of Scott and Erica), the entire extended Hale pack had settled into a much more cohesive unit. It helped that threats to their territory and lives had become less frequent, giving them all time to get to know each other better. There were some very big changes and some things that probably wouldn’t ever be any different. 

Scott and Derek decided, after a long weekend of arguing refereed by Stiles and Lydia, that there would be one pack in Beacon Hills, and they could find ways to handle the issue of having two Alphas. Their opinions and preferred methods may have varied, but in the end they both wanted the same thing – a peaceful territory and safety for their loved ones. It was still called the Hale pack, in deference to the family who’d been in Beacon Hills for generations. Scott had no desire for his name to be attached to anything of more significance than a driver’s license or a college diploma. Maybe some kids one day. He’d never wanted to be a werewolf in the first place, let alone an Alpha; he accepted the responsibility now that it had happened, but it didn’t make a bit of difference to him what their pack was called. 

Allison probably wouldn’t ever completely warm up to Derek, and vice versa. Boyd and Erica were almost certain to elope before either of them finished college (there was, in fact, a betting pool related to when this would happen). Chris Argent and Sheriff Stilinski ended up in a casual, easy friendship mostly based on mutual concern for and immense pride in their children, and their shared devotion to the 49ers even during their most pathetic seasons. Isaac surprised everyone when he announced that he’d been accepted at the California School of Culinary Arts in San Francisco; Lydia surprised exactly no one when she received a full scholarship to Georgia Tech. She could have gone to M.I.T., but she couldn’t stand the thought of New England weather after a lifetime in California. 

If Peter was anywhere even remotely in the vicinity of Beacon Hills, no one knew, and that was just fine.

Probably the most unexpected turn of events was the close friendship that Stiles and Derek had cultivated. Stiles wouldn’t ever call Derek _his best friend_ , because that place would always belong to Scott, but it was a close thing. The two of them spent more time together during Stiles’ senior year and the summer after, and somehow found that their personalities really kind of balanced each other out in a very satisfying way. Derek would freely admit that he enjoyed Stiles’ company, and Stiles found out there was a lot he could learn from Derek once he shut up and started listening. There might have been something else, too; something more than platonic that neither of them acknowledged for a laundry list of reasons. 

So, the fact that Stiles was in his Stanford dorm room having a Skype conversation with Derek in the middle of the first week of October was nothing out of the ordinary. However, Derek talking about trying to get everyone together for Thanksgiving was unexpected. Especially with the stammering and blushing that was evident even through the computer screen. Derek really didn’t have the slightest idea of how to go about making this happen. Stiles couldn’t bear it; he had to help, but he also knew he’d have to be casual about it. 

“Obviously I’m going to be home for Thanksgiving. I’m home all the time”, Stiles said, looking up from his copy of _Beloved_ and directly at the camera. And it was true, he was close, so he’d come back just for the weekend a couple of times since August. He was used to seeing Derek and fighting the butterflies in his stomach by now. “I can’t imagine why everyone else wouldn’t be. Lydia, even, I know she’s far but she’s not gonna stay in Atlanta over the holiday. Isaac’s coming home, right?”

“Yeah, he’s definitely going to be in town. I’m renting him a car, though. Holiday traffic and all that, I just…I think that’s better”, Derek replied. He was paying for Isaac’s school expenses, the kid was his responsibility, but Isaac worked part time in a restaurant for extra money. He didn’t want to rely on Derek for everything, and Derek didn’t want him coming out of college spoiled and not knowing how to take care of himself. “He can get around fine on his bike while he’s there, but it’s a long drive, you know?”

Stiles tried not to smile too much, but it really was freaking adorable how seriously Derek took his quasi-parental role in Isaac’s life. Hell, Derek was only six years older than the rest of the pack (well, five years older than Allison), but he still tried his best to look out for each and every one of them. “You don’t want him driving all that way on the bike, right?”

Derek flushed a little, but admitted that he just felt more comfortable with Isaac in a car on his way home, considering the rate of auto accidents on holiday weekends. “I talked to Erica, she said Boyd will be here too.”

“All right”, Stiles replied, “but there’s no way your place is gonna be finished in time.” Derek had been supervising the renovation of his family’s house since the summer, but it was a pretty damn big project. 

“God no, I’ll be lucky if it’s finished by New Year’s. There’s always something being delayed”, Derek confirmed, looking annoyed for a minute before returning to the subject of Thanksgiving. “Actually, I haven’t mentioned anything about this to anyone yet because I wanted to talk to you first. I thought maybe we could do it at your dad’s?” He was always a bit cautious whenever the subject of the Sheriff came up. The man had been more than kind and welcoming to him ever since he’d found out about the supernatural, but Derek still remembered being arrested quite vividly. And the fact that he might possibly have a crush on Stiles didn’t help. He was almost certain that the elder Stilinski would not appreciate Derek’s feelings due to the age difference between them. 

There was no way for Stiles to contain the smile that broke out on his face at that suggestion. “Are you serious? Of course we can do that, my dad will be thrilled to have a house full of people on Thanksgiving. It’s just been the two of us for so many years.”

“You really think so?” Derek asked. “I thought about asking Scott if we could do it at their place, Melissa wouldn’t mind, but your dad’s house is bigger.”

“All right, dude,” Stiles began, as he was cut off by an eye roll from Derek. Not giving him a chance to speak, Stiles just continued, “fine, yes, don’t call you ‘dude’, whatever. Anyway, I’ll get in touch with everyone, we have plenty of time to make more specific plans. But I can tell you now my dad won’t object to having all of us over.”

They exchanged a few more minutes of small talk, then disconnected the call. Stiles never asked if Derek was seeing anyone, and Derek never asked if Stiles was seeing anyone. Maybe it just never came up, or maybe they were both afraid of receiving an answer that they didn’t really want to hear. 

Of course, neither of them knew that the other would have trouble sleeping that night because their brains were plagued with _what-if_ s and _maybe_ s and _I wonder what it would be like to…_ s. 

Over the next couple of weeks, the plans started taking shape. Everyone in the pack was returning for Thanksgiving, except Jackson, which Stiles wasn’t going to complain about. As predicted, the Sheriff gladly offered to host dinner at his house. Now, they needed to tackle the issue of food. The whole holiday seemed to revolve around food, but very few of them were good cooks, and it wouldn’t be fair to saddle Isaac with all of the work. 

The details were being hammered out over yet another Skype conversation. 

“I’m all over the turkey and stuffing, I’ve been watching cooking shows and YouTube videos on how to make it come out perfectly.” Derek saw Stiles’ comment for exactly what it was – he’d never done it before but was absolutely confident that he could do it, and do it well. This new sense of self-confidence Stiles had developed made him even more ridiculously attractive and Derek had to work harder to keep his feelings under wraps. He cursed his crush on the teenager for the thousandth time. Stiles wasn’t a kid, technically, but Derek was pretty sure he’d be better off with someone his own age. Someone in college, someone who lived closeby, someone without the truckload of baggage that Derek dragged along with him everywhere. 

“Right, okay, so maybe we can just ask everyone to bring something? Is that, like, weird or…rude? Un-host-like or whatever?” 

Stiles was so glad that he was the one Derek had come to for help. The man honestly thought he had no idea how things like this worked. Of course, he’d only ever had traditional family-only Thanksgiving celebrations, and they were far in his past. The truth, Stiles knew, was that a typical Thanksgiving dinner at the Hales’ house all those years ago weren’t much different than anyone else’s. Derek hadn’t really taken much time to socialize except for with his pack during his adult years.

“Oh my God, Derek, I swear one day you will be properly socialized. No, that’s not weird at all. This is a group event, everyone should participate. That’s kind of the point of the whole plan, right? A bonding type of thing? Everyone has something to bring to the table, literally and metaphorically speaking. Isaac is totally on desert duty, though. He sent me pastries last week and I almost cried, they were so delicious.”

Derek shook his head, giving Stiles a look that was supposed to be exasperated but came off more like fond. “I know I can always count on you for melodramatics, Stiles. Some things don’t ever change.” Isaac had sent him delicious pastries as well, but Derek wasn’t about to admit that he ate them very slowly, savoring each incredible bite. 

Waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, Stiles replied, “ _Off topic_. I’ll just ask everyone to bring something, like a salad or wine or a side dish. No big. My dad’s getting some folding chairs to set up in the living room and make sure there’s a seat for everyone.”

Not wanting to think of how many people ‘everyone’ entailed, Derek just agreed and said he still remembered how to make sweet potato casserole. “You realize I will judge you if there are no marshmallows involved in this recipe?” Stiles asked, trying to keep his expression very serious. 

“I’m hanging up, Stiles.”

Once the holiday came closer, Stiles told Derek the school was closed Wednesday through Friday, but that he only had an 8am class on Tuesday, so he could come back early and help with the preparations. “That’s great”, Derek replied. “Scott and Erica are already here so they could help too.”

Before they knew it, Isaac had his rental car reserved, Lydia had her plane ticket, and Boyd and Danny had decided to carpool from Davis and arrive Wednesday evening. Going over the list of guests and food while sitting at his dad’s kitchen table, Stiles was certain they’d have enough food despite werewolf appetites and metabolisms. 

The Sheriff was already grinning ear to ear at the thought of a house overflowing with family, including actual relatives as well as the family they’d chosen and become over the last couple of years. He still saw Scott fairly often, and Derek on occasion. He was starting to warm up to Derek, finally; probably because it was so clear that he was making an effort to keep his pack safe and well taken care of. Also, Derek had no blood relatives to speak of, except for crazy-ass Peter, who was at least making himself scarce these days. He _needed_ family. The Sheriff had been orphaned when he was just a little older than Derek was now, his mother due to complications after heart surgery and his father less than two weeks later for no physical reason. His death certificate read ‘cardiac arrest’, but that was generic – everyone’s heart stops when they die, it’s a catch-all phrase for doctors who didn’t know why the person had died. Claudia and Stiles were his only family, and now it was just Stiles. Derek was a good guy, and the Sheriff hated the thought of him being alone in the world. He’d done his best to make Derek feel welcome in this home and comfortable in his presence, though clearly there was still some apprehension there. No surprise, really; after he’d been arrested and interrogated Derek was entitled to some lingering wariness. 

“I won’t be home until late, son. Guess you’ll be expecting company today?”

Stiles glanced up at his father, grateful to see the man so genuinely happy. “Yeah, Scott and Erica are coming this evening after they’re done with classes, but Derek should be here anytime. Everybody else won’t be home until tomorrow.”

“So, just you and Derek for most of the day, then?” the Sheriff asked, not even trying to hide his suspicions about the two of them having feelings for each other. Seemed pretty obvious to him, but he figured his age and experience gave him an advantage over a bunch of kids in recognizing these things.

“What’s that look for? We’re just…planning dinner. Or whatever.” Even Stiles knew it was a pretty lame reply as he felt his skin flush with embarrassment at his father’s clear implication. 

“Or whatever. Yeah. Well, like I said, I won’t be home until late. But I _will_ be home.”

With that, Stiles was left alone, staring absently at his list of things to do and trying to figure out how much more difficult it would be to act normal around Derek in person than it was over Skype. He didn’t have a lot of time to ponder the issue before the doorbell rang. Stiles felt like a fool for stopping to make sure his shirt wasn’t wrinkled and that he didn’t have bad breath or mismatched socks. 

It’s possible he wouldn’t have felt so foolish about it had he known Derek was doing almost all of those same things on the other side of his front door.

When he finally opened the door, Stiles was caught off-guard at the way his heartbeat sped up at the sight of Derek standing mere inches away from him. Throwing all his plans to stay cool by the wayside, he tugged the werewolf inside the house and immediately pulled him in for a tight hug. Derek certainly hadn’t expected it, but damn if it didn’t feel _so damn good_. He didn’t want to be the one to pull away, but that problem was solved when Stiles let go of him and stuttered a half-hearted apology and some lame excuse about the holidays always bringing out his sentimental side. 

“Hey Stiles”, Derek said, as Stiles’ fingers were still wrapped around his wrist, “I missed you too, you know?”

This was not an appropriate moment for a big conversation about feelings and intentions, so they both let it slide as they made their way into the kitchen. Stiles started going over the list of what kinds of foods everyone would be bringing with them and fretting over whether or not there would, in fact, be enough chairs. 

Derek attempted to allay that fear by reminding Stiles that the pack wasn’t really _that_ large. Stiles then had no choice but to confess the truth – he hadn’t only included pack, and that he’d invited Scott’s mom, and Deaton and his sister too. Figuring he might as well just rip off the news like a Band-Aid, he added, “Also Allison and Chris Argent. Don’t get too mad, okay? They’ve both been really helpful, and I know that doesn’t entirely make up for the past, but they’re trying, man. I think that counts for something.”

Derek had, in fact, wanted to yell and curse about this turn of events, but when he saw the earnest and serious emotions being played out Stiles’ face, he found himself unable to do so. What Stiles had said was true, after all, and if it was important to him, there was no way Derek would ruin that for him. “I’m not mad. And I get it, I really do. Just – don’t make me sit next to Allison during dinner.”

Stiles laughed and replied, “There’s no assigned seating, Derek, it’s not like this is our – like this is a wedding or something.” Shit. He hadn’t covered that up quickly enough for Derek to miss it, but the only response he got was a grin before Derek looked away. For the millionth time in his life, Stiles asked himself what the hell was wrong with him. Luckily, he was able to turn the conversation in a different direction right away – the art of distraction was one of Stiles’ more finely honed skills. 

By the time Scott and Erica showed up, Derek and Stiles had abandoned the holiday planning and were watching a movie. It wasn’t until the two new arrivals stood there staring at them that Stiles realized he was stretched out with his feet in Derek’s lap, and Derek didn’t seem to mind one bit. They both jumped off the couch at the same time – Stiles to give Scott and Erica a hello-hug, and Derek to cover up the fact that he’d been caught comfortably semi-snuggling with Stiles. 

“I’ll, uh, I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay? Gonna head home now”, Derek said, desperately grabbing for his jacket before making the mistake of looking back at Stiles, who was wearing a curious expression and still smiling. 

“Yeah, tomorrow. See you then”, he replied, then faced Scott’s inquisitive stare and Erica’s smug grin. 

Erica was the first to jump on it, of course. “Sorry, didn’t mean to _interrupt_. I would have called first if I knew it was date night over here.” Scott just laughed, because apparently betraying your best friend was the cool new thing to do, while Stiles denied that there was anything going on. Scott stopped laughing to mumble something under his breath about getting heads out of asses while Erica cackled and Stiles told them both to shut the hell up and swear they both had something fantastic planned to bring to dinner on Thursday. 

The next day went by in a blur of phone calls, text messages, happy greetings, hugs, kisses, cooking and last minute grocery shopping. Stiles called shenanigans on the fact that neither Lydia nor Derek had ever had cranberry sauce from a can; he could not let such an abomination stand, so Scott was tagged to pick up a couple of cans from the store. Erica and Boyd were in constant text contact, because she wanted him _home, now_ but Danny could only drive so fast. Derek abandoned all of his pretention and grabbed Isaac into a giant bear-hug the minute he walked through the door. Isaac looked embarrassed, but of course, like every other look he had, it only increased his adorableness quotient. He didn’t stay long, though, as he was expected to present himself for inspection by Melissa McCall, and everyone knew better than to get on her bad side. 

Luckily, there was plenty of time left to put the finishing touches on Thanksgiving dinner at the Stilinski house. Lydia, Boyd and Erica were all expected at their own family gatherings early in the day, so the festivities were planned for the evening. By six o’clock, the house was packed. Chris and Allison had arrived last, bringing a bottle of Scotch and a tin full of homemade cookies. 

Derek was standing by the stairs, just watching everyone laugh and joke and welcome each other home for the holiday. The Sheriff slid up beside him and said, “You know, I don’t think I ever thanked you for all this.”

“For what? All I did was bring sweet potato casserole”, Derek replied. 

“Hey, this whole thing was your idea. Stiles told me you were the one who wanted to get everyone together for Thanksgiving.”

“I did, yeah, but there’s no way I could have gotten everything coordinated like this. And I never thought…I don’t know. It’s a big crowd. I remember Thanksgiving this way, with my family when I was a kid.” 

“You know as well as I do that a lot of the people here tonight have very little or no blood family at all, Derek. But take a look around. This _is_ a family, it’s just one we all found ourselves.”

Derek had to agree, for the first time in years he really felt like he was part of something, like he belonged, and he’d never thought he’d feel anything like that again. He didn’t want to start getting all emotional, so he just said, “Stiles sure looks happy.”

The Sheriff just nodded in agreement and said, “Speaking of which”, as Stiles headed in their direction, “I’ll leave you two alone.” Derek was still staring nervously at their host as he walked away when Stiles bumped his shoulder. “This is fantastic, man. And we didn’t even get to the food yet.”

There was no stopping the smile spreading over Derek’s face as he looked around at his new family. In some ways, every one of them was pack, at least by association. “This was all you, Stiles. All the organizing and getting everyone here tonight.”

“It wasn’t hard”, he replied, “All part of the Stilinski charm. Who could say no to this?” Stiles asked, gesturing toward himself. 

Without taking even a second to think, Derek replied, “Not me.”

Both men stood there staring at each other at the bottom of the steps for just a minute before Stiles said, “So, are you gonna kiss me now, or what?”

Derek placed his hands on Stiles’ hips and pulled him closer. “Yeah, I think I am”, he said, at the same time as his eyes darted out at the crowd around them.

“Nobody’s paying us any attention, and anyway, this is my house, I can kiss whichever guests I want.”

With a sly smile, Derek leaned in closer and said, “Nope, just me”, before he pressed his lips against Stiles’. Their first kiss was warm and sweet and apparently neither of them realized just how long it had gone on until the sounds of catcalls and whistles reached their ears. Derek pulled away, and said, “So, no one’s paying us any attention, huh?”

“Well, they weren’t until we started making out”, Stiles said, and leaned in for another kiss. “Come on, let’s start getting this dinner onto people’s plates, huh?”

Derek shook his head and laughed, but he took Stiles’ offered hand and followed him into the kitchen. It looked to him like they had a houseful of people who had a lot to be thankful for, because even though there had been sadness and loss in their lives, they’d still been able to find happiness in each other.


End file.
